43North
An annual investment competition in Buffalo, New York. Five startups win US$1 million each for 5% equity, then relocate to Buffalo and join 43North's accelerator programme.
US$1m invested · 5% equity
Status unknown
Pitch competition · Notre Dame, Indiana, United States
McCloskey New Venture Competition
Notre Dame's startup competition, open to students, faculty, staff, alumni and local community members. Finalists pitch at the McCloskey Founders Summit in April for more than US$100,000 in prizes.
Open · closes 8 Nov 2026 Run by IDEA Center, University of Notre Dame
Verified 19 October 2026 · From the programme's own pages
Terms
- Funding
- not published More than US$100,000 in prizes, including awards for the best undergraduate and graduate ventures. The grand prize amount is not published.
- Instrument
- Prize
- Equity taken
- not published
- Programme fee
- not published
- Duration
- not published
- Cohort size
- not published
- Cohorts
- not published
- Delivery
- In person
- Stages
- Idea, pre-seed
- Sectors
- Sector-agnostic
- Open to founders from
- not published
- Perks
-
- Mentors, judge feedback and business planning software
- Startup Coach matching for current students
Round 1 submissions (a 10-slide pitch deck and a 3-minute video) are due at 11:59 pm Eastern on 8 November 2026; Round 1 judging runs 9-23 November. The Founders Summit runs 21-24 April 2027.
Application dates
Open · closes 8 Nov 2026McCloskey 2027
McCloskey 2027: applications opened 20 September 2026 and close 8 November 2026; the programme starts 21 April 2027.
Who can apply
- Current students of Notre Dame and Saint Mary's, plus faculty, staff and alumni
- Residents of St. Joseph, Elkhart and Marshall counties and students at colleges there; community teams must partner with Notre Dame students to compete past Round 2
- Ventures at the earliest stage, with limited revenue, funding and operating history; commercial and social ventures
- Individuals or teams
- Stage: idea, pre-seed
What founders should check
- The programme does not publish how much equity it takes. Ask before you accept a place.
- It does not publish a fee. Ask whether you pay for desks, services or the programme itself.
- It runs in person in Notre Dame. Plan to be there for the length of the programme.
- Applications are open until 8 November 2026. That is less than a month away, so start the form now.
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Funding not published · equity not published
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